The following correction was printed in the Guardian's Corrections and clarifications column, Monday December 18 2006

In the article below we attributed an academic report on firearms use to Chris Lewis, Gavin Hales and Daniel Silverstone and stated that they were from Plymouth University. They are in fact all from the University of Portsmouth.

Sawn-off shotguns are still the weapon of choice for the more serious armed criminal and can now be bought illegally for between £50 and £200, according to Home Office research.

A purpose-built 9mm handgun, which is easier to conceal than a shotgun, is available for £1,000-£1,400 on the back streets of Britain while those wanting "a gangster image" can buy a machine gun for £800.

The guns come from illegal imports and shotguns stolen in rural burglaries. Imitation firearms are also converted for use, with the aid of criminal "armourers".

The cheapness of illegal guns in Britain is uncovered in research by University of Portsmouth academics, published yesterday and based on interviews with more than 80 male prisoners, aged 18 to 30, who were convicted of gun crimes. Nearly half those interviewed were white and a majority had been in a gang or crew.

The 160-page study also highlights the lifestyle of the gun culture in Britain, with fears of using "a dirty firearm" from another crime high on the list of anxieties. "You have to be very careful, because you can buy a gun that killed people. You can get life for that, for things that you haven't even done," one Londoner said.

Even though those interviewed were in prison, many still viewed gun crime as a "viable career option" enabling them to overcome their deprived backgrounds to secure wealth and status. One man from Greater Manchester claimed he had earned £52,000 in a week from gun crime. The study shows that though Nottingham is dubbed Britain's gun crime capital, guns are far more available in Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham and London.

The researchers, Gavin Hales, Chris Lewis and Daniel Silverstone, said that increasingly firearms had become a normal part of the systematic violence found in the street-level criminal economy. They had assumed a symbolic significance as they became associated with criminal affluence, and were conflated with status and the potential for violence.

The researchers said the extent to which the symbolism could be attributed to gangsta-rap or other urban music, as claimed, appeared to be limited.